Falmouth Public Library
Reference Services Policy
Revision February 24, 2003

Purpose of the Policy

This policy defines the goals of reference service provided by the Falmouth Public Library and seta a basis for the delivery of the service. The policy is intended to serve as a foundation for developing procedures and providing clarification to patrons who may have questions concerning the reference services of the library.

Goals of Reference Service

The goals of reference service at the Falmouth Public Library are:

To acquire materials that meet the information and recreational needs and interests of the community;

To provide accurate and timely information and facilitate access to the library collection and to the collections and services of the Southeastern Massachusetts Library System;

To provide qualified staff to assist patrons in an efficient and courteous manner;

To inform the public about reference services.

Scope of Service

Qualified staff provides reference service during all hours the library is open. Reference assistance is provided to anyone who comes to the library in person. Reference questions are also accepted by mail, e-mail, fax, telephone and live online chat. Effort is made to answer all types of questions with no distinctions made as to purpose of the inquiry or the use of the information. Questions are handled with confidentiality and impartiality. Patrons are given the source of information as well as the answer.

Reference staff provides the answer to a question if the information is available in the library’s resources. If not available, the reference department will always refer the patron to another source. Patrons may be asked to assist in checking materials for the information sought. If determining the answer to a question requires reading and evaluating extensive parts of a text, the staff gathers the sources for the patron to use, but the patron completes the necessary synthesis.

Medical/legal/tax questions: The library provides information, but not advice. Brief definitions and descriptions are given from the library’s collections on law, medicine or income tax, but the reference staff is not permitted to offer opinions or interpretations, nor attempt to abstract or condense information read over the phone or in person. Information is provided over the telephone if it is brief and can be quoted verbatim.

Whenever possible answers to questions are provided as follows:

Accurate answers to ready-reference questions within a 3 to 5 minute time frame.

Accurate answers to questions by fax and e-mail within a two-hour time frame. If a question cannot be answered in the above time frame the patron will be contacted to provide an estimated time for researching and responding to the question or staff will provide referral as appropriate.

Online catalog checks and shelf checks for specific titles in the collection will be provided for patron pick-up.

All reference materials in the library are available to patrons of all ages.

Evaluation of Reference Service and Policies

An annual evaluation is made by the director and the reference department to determine how effectively the library is fulfilling its reference service goals.